European Union (Amendment) Bill

I am sure that should my noble friend Lord Strathclyde hear these kind invitations, he will listen to them very carefully, but he will be in his rightful place as leader of what is now Her Majesty's Opposition, which will no doubt become Her Majesty's Government in due course, and he will continue that leadership with the vast ability that he has shown all along. As to the need to be here at various stages in the Bill, it is possible that he will be and it is possible that those of us who are looking after the Bill will be able to guide the noble Lord and his friends through the quagmire into which he seems to have led them. I was about to say that I was not going to say anything nice about the Liberal Democrats or anything nasty either. I want to assert that we are not trying to lead them into another trap because they have become a self-trapping party. As one of my noble colleagues said, they are permanently wedged in a situation that must be extremely uncomfortable and excites, in a way—from one Member of this House to others and from one fellow ex-MP to others—some sympathy. It is very difficult for them. For the rest of us, this amendment is not necessary. I have heard the views of some of my noble friends, and they can make up their own minds. The vast majority of the country is in favour of staying in, and of working probably rather harder than the Government have worked to improve and modernise the European Union. Therefore, a referendum on that issue is not necessary, although it is in the view of the Liberal Democrats. I would advise my noble friends to vote against it this evening. That is where we stand. We have a very clear view of the kind of Europe that we want to work for, and we will work for it. We will not simply give in and adopt the defeatist pose of too many people, both in the Government and, it seems, sadly, in the Liberal Democrat Party.